This invention is generally directed to a vehicle, such as a trailer, van or the like, with side walls constructed of a novel fiberglass reinforced plastic.
Prior art trailer side walls have been formed from panels made of sheets of plywood having inner and outer surfaces covered with a thin cover sheet of fiberglass reinforced plastic. While such panels have generally been satisfactory, it has been found that the thin, fiberglass reinforced plastic cover sheets are relatively easily punctured when, for example, struck by another vehicle or by a fork-lift truck or the like. If the fiberglass reinforced plastic sheets are increased as to thickness, the wall becomes too heavy and expensive.
Other prior art trailers have eliminated the plywood and used a solid fiberglass reinforced plastic sheet for the walls which might, for example, be nearly a half-inch thick. Again, such solid sheets are expensive and too heavy.
The present invention presents a novel side wall construction for a vehicle, such as a trailer, van or the like, that is intended to overcome these problems and other inherent problems in the prior art as well as to present several other advantages and improvements.